Andy at US Open 2012

If it wasn't for Nole I'd be more confident that Andy could win USO this year. But Nole does seem to play his best there and he's looking fresher this year than he did last when he went to into it after pulling out of Cinci final with shoulder injury and then still won USO. But if Andy could rediscover his Olympian form + his serve who knows - the sky's the limit.

Positive---Andy is well rested or will be by the time NY starts, he has overcome his duck about winning a big final agsinst a top 3 player, he has Lendl in his corner, he has a huge amount of confidence. He will have gained alot more fans and i can see the US crowd supporting him over the other big guns as they love the underdog.

Realistic --Fast outdoor hardcourts are NOT Murrays best surface that would be:-Plexicushion ( AO courts) or grass, maybe even indoor hard. It is a good surface for Andy but other players suit it better, and there are more players who are dangerous on this surface then there are on grass. Even the big American serve-bots who Murray could easily beat on grass are more dangerous here. I would be concerned if murray had to play Isner, Raonic, Fish in R16 as well as all the potential QF oppenants particuarly Del Potro. Not to mention how HOT Novak is right now on hardcourts...he looks unstoppable.

Would be a monumental effort if Andy were to pull of a W at USO this year, but i cant wait to support him through it the whole way ( hopefully!)

Not worried about Del Po, think his wrist will be a factor, also H2H in Andy's favour, that is true of Isner, who Andy seems to be able to pick off. I'm not too worried about Fish either or Raonic because having played them before he will have a good knowledge of their game.

Good post Rachie. We saw at the Dubai final how dangerous Fed was. With a fast court, Andy has less time to react to serves and get back in position when dragged out wide, etc...

On the other hand, Andy will get more free points on his 1st serves, and his ground strokes will become more punishing. If Andy comes into the net to volley more following attacking shots, this will suit him well. I am sure Lendl will be fully aware of this so it is good Andy has a few days to work on these strokes.

I would say that on the whole, the new agressive style we saw at the Olympic SF and F is well suited to the faster hard courts. However, Andy will be in trouble if he reverts to the reactive style of playing.

Andy beat Isner just last year at the USO in the qtr final. He also dismissed Fish at Cincy, who was having a great US series and was chosen as the best player of that season and that too was last year. As to Nole, Andy also beat him at the Cincy final, the player of the year basically again before USO. And the surface at Cincy plays similar to USO. So I don't agree.

Fish is not even a shadow of himself this year. He will have the crowd support but that's all he will have. Isner is definitely dangerous but Andy will just have to focus a bit more than usual.

Nole will definitely be the man to beat but if they meet in the semi, then momentum will be with Andy (he'll keep AO in mind) and the crowd will favour Andy I get the feeling. And if they meet in the final, then it will be 50/50 and this time, again, I think the crowd will be mostly behind Andy. This though mean that Andy will have to build the momentum himself first as he goes through USO.

But there's still a question mark sitting next to Andy. Will he be able to overcome his pressure if he makes the final? He had a great grass court season. Will he be able to bring that level here too? That we can all speculate but won't have the answer until it happens. Both Federer and Nole are two very good hard court players but Andy's not too far behind and it's just only waiting for one more shift in the gear.

If it wasn't for Nole I'd be more confident that Andy could win USO this year. But Nole does seem to play his best there and he's looking fresher this year than he did last when he went to into it after pulling out of Cinci final with shoulder injury and then still won USO. But if Andy could rediscover his Olympian form + his serve who knows - the sky's the limit.

........... but that was a strategic retiral - Nole didn't want to be beaten by Andy going into the US Open. This year Andy has kept his powder dry - expect him to come out all guns blazing!

I think it's the USO that has the most risk factors involved for all the players apart from Federer and whoever is on his side of the draw. The weather to begin with and then you have that wicked schedule that pretty much screws one side of the draw. The draws are just as much notorious. It wasn't so bad in the 90s but ever since Federer's arrival and his infamous popularity since then on together with Nadal's arrival to some extent, because of the rivalry mainly and to promote the popularity of the sport, I'd say things are being manipulated far more than ever. I don't feel at all that the integrity of this sport is as genuine as it used to be. The more fans it's drawing the more it's becoming manipulative. It will be interesting to see what happens once Federer retires and Nadal too.

Andy got beat in his first round at Queens, then Nole beat him at Boodles and so did Tipsaravic. So Three warm up matches before Wimbledon and he lost them all. But we know what happend after that.............

He has had three matches on the hard surface before the USO, he won two easily and I watched the third live on Sky. He looked good he played very well in the first three service games two were won to love, had a couple of bad shots a return clipped the net on Adv to Chardy and dropped into the tram lines. After that he seemed to play rather flat and he had a few more shots that clipped the net at vital times, whilst Chardy could do no wrong.Lets hope he goes on to play in USO like he did at Wimbledon Olympics.

What has changed? It seems only yesterday when the US Open was seen as Andy's best chance.

Yes I was wondering that too Jayel when reading Rachie. I thought Andy liked the surface at USO and had himself said he thought he had his best chance of winning his first GS here. But what has changed is that Nole has emerged as the guy to beat on this surface since Andy last reached USO final.

I mean...I would expect Andy to win against any of those zzzz all serve types but Im saying i dont feel as comfortable with Andy playing them at USO then i would on slow hard or grass...its to do with Andy's reaction time off the return as Phillip pointed out.Tiebreakers against a home player with a big serve can be tricky.

I would be suprised if Andy went out earlier than Qfs for sure, but i feel this is the 3rd hardest slam for him to win. So many dangermen around with big serves and big Fhs.

I do think Andy is the most amazing player though when he's playing on top form for me theres nothing better to watch, if Andy can transfer his Olympics form onto this surface and his postive mental attitude i genuinely think he will win the USO, i just want to remain grounded because its a tough task, the draw will probaby be crucial.

- In response to ruthie and jayel if you look at Andy GS results from 2009-2012 at AO, W, and USO, he has done significantly worse at USO only one SF in 3 years whereas Andy hasnt failed to reach SF or BETTER of AO or Wimby in 3 years.

Rachie yes that's true about his results at USO since getting to final. And this came as a surprise after his success in 2008. But I think we're partly saying the same thing ie it's how others play on that surface relative to AO and Wimby as much as how Andy himself plays. I also like what you say about staying grounded. I think that's really good advice to all of us over next 3 weeks.

I have come up with a new scoring system for tennis which I think would be better for tennis and make games more interesting in the long run.

As you know sometimes a set of tennis can go on for about 60 mins at a time and sometimes it only really gets exciting in the tie breaker. My idea would be to introduce a system similar to Darts where each set is the first to 3 rather than 6 and also no one has to win by 2 clear games.Obvoulsy every new set is started by a diffrent player so you would serve in say the 1,3,5 set first etc etc

So in a Masters Series first round to say the ¼ final it would be first to 4 sets. Obviously in final set if score is 3 sets all then you would have to win by 2 games but if it went to say 5-5 in games then we have a tie breaker to decide the match. This system allows you to increase the number of sets each round so as the semi finals, final could be a bit longer. So in a Masters Final it could be first to 5.

When it comes to grand slams it would maybe start at first to 5 in the early rounds then by the ¼ final be first to 6 then in final first to 7.This means that every point is important from the off and make it more exciting for the fans and TV companies a like

I mean...I would expect Andy to win against any of those zzzz all serve types but Im saying i dont feel as comfortable with Andy playing them at USO then i would on slow hard or grass...its to do with Andy's reaction time off the return as Phillip pointed out.Tiebreakers against a home player with a big serve can be tricky.

I would be suprised if Andy went out earlier than Qfs for sure, but i feel this is the 3rd hardest slam for him to win. So many dangermen around with big serves and big Fhs.

I do think Andy is the most amazing player though when he's playing on top form for me theres nothing better to watch, if Andy can transfer his Olympics form onto this surface and his postive mental attitude i genuinely think he will win the USO, i just want to remain grounded because its a tough task, the draw will probaby be crucial.

- In response to ruthie and jayel if you look at Andy GS results from 2009-2012 at AO, W, and USO, he has done significantly worse at USO only one SF in 3 years whereas Andy hasnt failed to reach SF or BETTER of AO or Wimby in 3 years.

That's mainly because USO happens to be the last Slam of the year and having not won a Slam yet, that automatically puts the most pressure on Andy hence the tight results since 2008. From 2011 on, things are slightly different as I do believe Andy is more consistent than ever as far as GSs are concerned. And now that he has added the Olympics gold medal to his success and has also made the final of Wimbledon first time and to take into a couple of other factors such as, Nadal not being there although he might still have to play two top players regardless, and the fact that he has now Lendl on his side, I'd say he's taken a lot of the pressure off. So keeping all that in mind, winning USO is perfectly doable but it's not mandatory. With those two achievements in mind, I believe Andy will rest the year with much satisfaction. He can go and win a few tournaments after USO and stay where he is rankingwise or perhaps move one step further and take the No. 3 spot from Nadal. When we look back, I am sure this year will be a milestone year for Andy regardless.

I am as realistic as I can be and that's why I thought the loss to Chardy was good taking all things into account. Even if Andy goes out early (God forbid) at the Open, I'll be fine - though I am not sure about others. And I know Andy will be back with new motivation next year. I never expect too much from Andy anyway - only as much as he can give though GS losses are very hard to take regardless, but I do take comfort in the fact that, he has set much bigger ground this year than ever.